Road trips from Southern California: Central California

Shell Beach is a bluff-top village tucked between the gritty ticky-tack of the Pismo Beach Pier scene to the south and the revitalized town of Avila Beach just up the coast.

Shell Beach is a bluff-top village tucked between the gritty ticky-tack of the Pismo Beach Pier scene to the south and the revitalized town of Avila Beach just up the coast. (Donna Wares / For The Times)